Fast Food Nation

[hardheadjarhead]

I'm reading Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation", a damning expose on the food industry and the incredible impact its had on American culture, business, labor, farming, and politics...not to mention American health.

Its an incredible book...a real page turner. Anybody else read it? If so, what'd you think?

Unnorthkyosa, if you haven't read it, you'd probably like it.



Regards,


Steve

 

[michaeledward]

Fast Food Nation is one of the books that is on my reading list, but I haven't got to it yet. Not sure I want to, because I will never be able to eat at McDonalds again. That might be too high a price to pay


I recently read 'Refer Madness' by Schlosser. Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in America. It was also an excellent book; illuminating the 'Underground Economy'.

Perhaps the neatest thing I learned, is that the 'Adam & Eve' company (an adult cataloge and store) was started to provide birth control to poor countries around the world. Even today, they continue to contribute and distribute birth control products around the world. Good For Them.

 

[theletch1]

Fast Food Nation is one of the books that is on my reading list, but I haven't got to it yet. Not sure I want to, because I will never be able to eat at McDonalds again. That might be too high a price to pay


I recently read 'Refer Madness' by Schlosser. Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in America. It was also an excellent book; illuminating the 'Underground Economy'.

Perhaps the neatest thing I learned, is that the 'Adam & Eve' company (an adult cataloge and store) was started to provide birth control to poor countries around the world. Even today, they continue to contribute and distribute birth control products around the world. Good For Them.

I suppose the Adam and Eve company could be used as an analogy for the American gun companies. If the gun companies sold/donated bullet proof vests maybe they wouldn't be looking at so many lawsuits. :uhyeah:

 

[Ender]

Yes I'd like fries with that!..demmit!...*L

 

[Makalakumu]

Thanks for the heads up, Steve. I've been thinking about the topics presented by that book quite a bit. Curious, why did I suddenly pop to mind while you were reading/thinking about this book?

 

[tshadowchaser]

Would you care to tell us a few of the topics that the books cover?

 

[hardheadjarhead]

Thanks for the heads up, Steve. I've been thinking about the topics presented by that book quite a bit. Curious, why did I suddenly pop to mind while you were reading/thinking about this book?

If I recall correctly, you've expressed a passion for social activism and /or awareness along these lines.

Would you care to tell us a few of the topics that the books cover?

I can't tell you about Schlosser's second book, "Reefer Madness" (it is next on the list...having bought it), but "Fast Food Nation" chronicles the rise of the fast food companies like McDonald's, Burger King, etc...Schlosser manages to tie that in with Walt Disney, interestingly. He writes about the development of the food flavoring industry, the rise of the potato processing industry, the decline of the independent farmer and cattle rancher in America and why that has occured, the dynamics of the beef packaging industry and its effect on migrant workers, sanitiaton conditions in the food industry and how it effects the spread of disease, the diminished role of the FDA and OSHA in regulating these industries, the politics involved in all of this, and finally the effect of fast food on our physical well being. LOTS OF MATERIAL. Its amazing what effect the fast food industry has had on American culture and our economy.

For some of you that might sound dry, but Schlosser is an engaging writer...I find I can't put it down. Everybody I know who has read it has concurred that it is a superbly written and researched book.


Regards,


Steve

 

[ShaolinWolf]

eh, I rarely eat fast food. I used to eat it all the time, but for some reason me and my family stopped going and now I rarely eat anything dast food. I think it's been almost 3-4 months now since I had anything except maybe a salad, shake, Mcflurry, Frosty or ice cream from a fast food restaurant. Oh, I did have some checker's fries and a burger back in the end of October. But Fast food is more of a treat for me, as wierd as that sounds. I mean not having that isn't like it's a huge treat, but getting an occasional fry or burger every few months is good. Just not all the time. Too much fats and calories for me. Makes me sick too. It's kind of like Ice cream. Maybe once a week or twice, but not 5-7 days a week.

 

[hardheadjarhead]

As I mentioned, it isn't just about the effects of fast food on the body...but he does mention how the U.S. is one of the leading western nations insofar as the obesity epidemic goes.

He crams the book full of fascinating tidbits. America's children, for instance, spend on average fully one month's worth of time out of every year...one twelfth of their lives...watching television.

Possibly inspired by this book, a documentarian made a movie of his experience eating NOTHING but McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner for one month. If the person behind the counter asked if he wanted it supersized, he would agree to have it supersized.

It nearly killed him. His liver, according to his doctor, turned into a pate...his liver enzymes were out of whack. His blood cholesterol doubled to a very dangerous level. He got depressed, lost his libido, and his complexion went to Hell. He gained twenty five pounds (17 kilograms according to the British press...take your pick as to which number is likely accurate). Towards the end he was throwing up...his body rejecting the diet.

One month. Had he been on the diet for a year, he would have blossomed to nearly five hundred pounds.

In any case, I keep running into people who have read "Fast Food Nation" and they all have the same assessment of the book. They all say something along the lines of "fantastic". I have to agree.



Regards,


Steve

 

[someguy]

I read a small exert from it in one of my classes. It was fairly intresting to read. Maybe if I have some time to kill I'll read the whole thing.
It becomes fairly hard to eat at a fast food restraunt if become a vegitarian though so I myself rarely do.

 

[OULobo]

Possibly inspired by this book, a documentarian made a movie of his experience eating NOTHING but McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner for one month. If the person behind the counter asked if he wanted it supersized, he would agree to have it supersized.

It nearly killed him. His liver, according to his doctor, turned into a pate...his liver enzymes were out of whack. His blood cholesterol doubled to a very dangerous level. He got depressed, lost his libido, and his complexion went to Hell. He gained twenty five pounds (17 kilograms according to the British press...take your pick as to which number is likely accurate). Towards the end he was throwing up...his body rejecting the diet.

One month. Had he been on the diet for a year, he would have blossomed to nearly five hundred pounds.

Regards,


Steve

I read about this guy and I think we discussed it here on the forum. It definitly shows the effects of fast food in the extreme, but many doctors are saying that the damage that was reported on his liver was because he was eating extremely healthy for a really long time and then went to extremely unhealth in such a short period of time. If he had been exposed to fast food earlier, he wouldn't have had as bad a reaction. That being said, the weight, cholesterol and other negative effects of fast food are well known, well documented and rarely argued.

 

[ShaolinWolf]

Man, I think its pretty pathetic when somebody actually writes a book on how a nation's diet is fast food. That just strikes me funny...LOL. I mean, it's true, but to the extent that we of America have gotten that bad. Yeah...

 

[Makalakumu]

Hey, I found it!

Thanks for the book tip, Steve. I finished the book. Wow. There are so many issues this book presents....

1. Government subsidies and the rise of multinationals.
2. The weakening of workplace safety standards.
3. The overall reduction in wages.
4. How a corporation fights unions by creating revolving door jobs.
5. The blatent abuse of immegant workers.
6. The end result of deregulation.
7. "There is **** in the meat"
8. "Public health is not profitable"
9. School children get the worst meat the industry has to offer.
10. America, the empire of fat...

There is so much in this book, that it is truly a classic. This book is not like the typical political book whose themes die in late november. This book describes reality and that reality is supremely disturbing.

I've had some friends who have said this book convinced them to turn vegitarian. I won't go that far, but my consumer choices as far as my food is concerned have truly been enlightened.

upnorthkyosa

 

[dubljay]

I had to read exscrips for a humanities class... i found it quite interesting

 

[RandomPhantom700]

I haven't read the book, but to be honest I'm not seeing what the point is in him doing the one-month McDonalds diet, other than as a sensationalistic stunt. I mean, c'mon, even the worst of us don't eat nothing but McDonalds for a month straight; more to the point, it's not like his dietary venture brought anything new to the table, pardon the pun. We all know that fast food isn't healthy, and shouldn't take a heavy part of your diet. In short, I don't know what the diet stunt was supposed to prove.

 

[SenseiBear]

I haven't read the book, but to be honest I'm not seeing what the point is in him doing the one-month McDonalds diet, other than as a sensationalistic stunt. I mean, c'mon, even the worst of us don't eat nothing but McDonalds for a month straight; more to the point, it's not like his dietary venture brought anything new to the table, pardon the pun. We all know that fast food isn't healthy, and shouldn't take a heavy part of your diet. In short, I don't know what the diet stunt was supposed to prove.

Do we all know that? I can think of half a dozen people at work who get fast food for themselves and their kids at least once a day...

Plus, vaugely "knowing" something and witnessing it are two very different things. One is a passing intellectual thought, the other kicks you in the gut.

 

[Makalakumu]

There is more to the book then fast food. The book talks about the meatpacking industry in general. In the sixties, butchers were unionized, skilled, high paying labor. During the conservative revolution, the unions were broken, wages plummeted, and all of the workers were replaced with immigrants.

Now meat packing is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. The emphasis on throughput has turned disassembly lines with hundreds of people on them into quisenarts making 10,000 cuts a day. The workers are moving so fast that they often cut themselves and other people around them. In response, the meatpacking industry forces their workers to wear chain mail. CHAIN MAIL.

On the kill floor, the slaughterhouses are busting through thousands of cattle a day. If the animal is improperly stunned and stuck, there is no time to go back. Live animals regularly are skinned, disemboweled and dismemembered. A worker gets about a minute to disembowel an animal (field dress for those who hunt - this process takes me at minimum a half an hour). Because of this speed, fecal matter from the cattles gigantic intestines spill all over the meat. The meat is not washed. It is cut up and packed and sent to the grocery stores complete with its **** topping.

Cattle regularly fall on people. People regularly fall into the machines. People regularly slip and fall in the ankle deep blood. And yet the conservatives push for deregulation of this industry. No microbe testing. No OSHA inspections. No Ergonomic standards. Nothing that would slow down the line speeds. In my opinion, this only occurs because these workers are latino. The underlying racism is obvious.

Here is a couple more things a small portion of the book reveals. Did you know that if you are injured and you go to a doctor that is not a company doctor you can be fired? Even if you know that the company doctor is going to tell you that you just pulled a muscle and put you back on the line. Did you know that if you lose an arm, it is worth 30,000 dollars? This is a permanent disability. Did you know that the most conservative states require company doctors to inspect injuries before workers comp can be awarded? Did you know that if you eat a hamburger at Mcdonalds, get sick, and say it must have been the beef, you can be thrown in jail?

The Bush Administration has done nothing but continue this downward spiral. They have continually opposed testing for BSE. They have opposed the feeding of ruminants to ruminants, the process that spreads mad cow. They nixed the ergonomic standards that would have protected workers from cumulative injuries. They also nixed the testing for salmonella in the federal school lunch program. They have shown broad support for taking the worst food, the animals that go into the slaughter houses dead or so diseased they cannot walk, and feeding it to people who buy food stamps, the military, and to school children. So, whose opportunity does the Opportunity Society, provide?

upnorthkyosa

 

[shesulsa]

This reminds me of the book "Diet For a New America" by John Robbins. He was heir to the Baskin-Robbins estate and was readying himself to get into the family business and decided one of the best ways to do that would be to visit the dairy farms. He was shocked, but continued on to the slaughterhouses which incensed him to visit poultry farms and porcine processing plants.

He is now vegan and has completely denounced his family business and fortune.

 

[Makalakumu]

It just occured to me. Those stomach bugs that pass through schools so frequently, are now suspect.

 

[PeachMonkey]

I haven't read the book, but to be honest I'm not seeing what the point is in him doing the one-month McDonalds diet, other than as a sensationalistic stunt.

The stunt you mention is from the film "Super-Size Me", not the book by Eric Schlosser.

And I think you'd be surprised by just how much damage one month of McDonald's did to that guy, even knowing that it's not good for you.